Wine and molding

Sussex IM Account Manager Angela Klein, left, and Jessica Bell, owner and inventor of HaloVino, examine product components during one of the preliminary qualification runs of the newly-built 4+4 cavity family production injection mold.

Jessica Bell has created a plastic wine glass that even a merlot-drinking wine snob can love.

And she's working with Wisconsin-based custom injection molder Sussex IM Inc. for volume production of her HaloVino polypropylene cup.

The two-piece cup is her solution to what she identifies as a "first-world problem" to create a wine cup for use in places unsuited for vessels of breakable glass.

For any varietal connoisseur, "a plastic cup feels cheap" and the fermented juice does "not feel or taste like wine," she said in explaining the origins of her ah-ha moment. The glass's curved shape enhances the aroma of the wine, which helps offset complaints about the material for high-end wine drinkers.

Bell worked as a Goldman Sachs investment banker for three years, for a winery in Spain for two years, as a sommelier in New York for a year and as a wine school operator in Milwaukee and Chicago for 10 years.

After coming up with her idea for HaloVino, she connected with Sussex IM to bring the idea to production in the U.S. and make ​ it shine.

It is important for an inventor or entrepreneur to "surround yourself with people who believe in you," Bell said in a Milwaukee television interview.

"I was lucky enough to find a local manufacturer, Sussex IM, so we are actually making these in Wisconsin," she noted. "It's a fantastic operation they have, and they are definitely a great support system for taking an idea to market."

So far, Bell estimates that she has invested about $250,000 in bringing the HaloVino cup to market.

The two pieces snap together to form the curved glass. The cups are dishwasher-safe and reusable. Websites list an eight-pack of shatterproof HaloVino tumblers for $9.99-$11.99.

HaloVino

The HaloVino wine glass is designed to improve the aroma of wine, a shape that allows it to better compete for wine lovers' use in places where they cannot use glass.

Sussex IM designers utilized Autodesk Moldflow fill/flow analysis to help balance-fill the family tool's multiple cavities. Resin quantities differ for the top and bottom components.

Improvements included a multidrop manifold system to minimize runner scrap and control flow marks and bubbles in the wall section. As a result of the mold flow analysis, the gate location was optimized to blend it into features of the assembly and improve venting. The ejection system was improved. Core-cavity interlocks ensured consistent alignment protecting shut-offs and the parting line minimizing split lines on the molded part. The tool was built with the capability to expand into multicavity automatic in-mold labeling.

The resin selected for the project is a low-odor, good-clarity PP that has approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"This enables Jessica to offer her customers the flexibility of a product decorated specifically for their event or promotion or general sale, [and] it is a cost-effective technique to differentiate the HaloVino tumbler from other offerings in this market," said John Berg, Sussex IM director of marketing.

"We've been very pleased with the advancements made in digital IML," he said. "We use this method in several applications and appreciate the flexibility, dramatically shortened lead times and the ability to order both large and small volumes."

HaloVino customers include the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Milwaukee Brewers' Miller Park and the basketball and entertainment venue BMO Harris Bradley Center. A venue can stack unassembled pieces for storage.

Recently, Sussex IM took delivery of three new presses from KraussMaffei — two 222-ton KM 200-750CX models and one 378-ton KM 350-3000CX.

The company plans an expansion in the next year to accommodate advanced manufacturing cells.

Sussex IM and other companies will have active roles at the NPE2018 exhibit of the In-Mold Decorating Association in booth WL-6 on level 2 of the Orange County Convention Center's west hall in Orlando, Fla., May 7-11.

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